Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Raises Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 637,392 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.9% of Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund's holdings in Microsoft were worth $268,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 410.4% during the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,689,356 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,890,530,000 after purchasing an additional 49,288 shares during the period. Finally, Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,749 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,334,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $9.88 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $435.28. 30,732,671 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,356,359. The company has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $384.93 and a 200-day moving average of $411.12. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James increased their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $507.77.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.